40 Things You May Not Know About Cash Machines
1. Comedy actor Reg Varney, star of TV sitcom On the Buses, became the first person in the country to use a cash machine at Barclays Enfield on June 27th 1967
2. After the low key opening in the UK the opening of the first Japanese machine in Tokyo drew a crowd of 10,000
3. The idea of a cash machine was first thought up by Turkish born inventor Luther George Simjian in 1939, but it never got off the ground.
4. The idea of a personal identification number was thought up by John Shepherd Barron and refined by his wife Caroline, who changed John’s six digit number to four as it was easier to remember.
5. At the end of the 1960s there were 781 cash machines worldwide, 595 were in the UK
6. In 1971cash machines went online, to become Automated Teller Machines (ATM)
7. A Teller is an Americanism for a cashier.
8. There are now 1.6 million cash machines around the world and around 60,000 cash machines in the UK.
9. The USA has the most cash machines with 405,000 in use at the end of 2006.
10. The hole in the wall industry is worth £14 billion and the 1.6 million machines worldwide are expected to grow to two million by 2010.
11. The total of all withdrawals from UK machines reached £172 billion in 2005 – an average £5455 per second.
12. The world’s most northerly ATM is at Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway.
13. The most southerly at the McMurdo station at the South Pole
14. 96 per cent of all cash withdrawn is from machines owned by banks or building societies.
15. The average number of cash withdrawals per day at each UK bank or building society owned machine is 213.
16. In the UK there were 164 million plastic cards in issue by the end of 2005 that could be used at a cash point machine.
17. 70 per cent of UK adults said they had used a cash machine during 2005.
18. The highest frequency users in the UK are the 16-24 age group
19. A total of over 260 million freshly printed fivers are currently languishing at the Bank of England as they take up too much room in the cash machines which are largely populated with £10 and £20 notes (although Barclays is one bank that does still stock them).
20. There are two types of cash machine users – Feasters and Nibblers. Feasters withdraw over £100 at a time while nibblers prefer to withdraw £20 to £30 two or three times a week.
21. Surveys show that women are much better than men at heeding the on screen warnings of any charges being imposed for withdrawals.
22. Cash machine users are helping local convenience stores to survive, visiting them more often and spending more.
23. Over half of the UK’s cash machines are now at non bank sites.
24. All cards issued in the UK bearing the Visa or Mastercard logos can be used in any machine worldwide that display such logos.
25. Research shows that soccer mad Britons stage a half time dash for cash during big games, with withdrawals at stadium cash machines surging more than 40 percent before the start of the second half.
26. Cash machine robbers are increasing being foiled by security devices which trigger a dye that stains banknotes when a machine is stolen.
27. The most common banknote used in a cash machine is the £20. It was re-launched in March 2007 for the first time since1999.
28. Cash machines that talk have been installed in Norway to help blind customers obtain cash.
29. Experts believe we’ll soon be using cash machines for everything from printing digital photos, playing interactive games and ordering goods or services.
30. One in eight men admit to using a cash machine but being too drunk to remember it.
31. A face recognition system may replace the need for a password or PIN for identification and verification to access cash machines.
32. A German monastery is replacing its collection boxes with machines that accept payments from debit and credit cards. The Benedictine monks at Schaeftlarn say they want to make donations easier for visitors.
33. Cash machines no longer just give out sterling. Euro cash machines can be found in the City of London.
34. A mouse munched its way through a small fortune after climbing inside a cash machine in Estonia. The animal was found in the machine after a customer withdrew partly eaten banknotes.
35. Dogs are being trained to use cash machines for disabled users.
36. In 1998 the first independent cash machine opened at a branch of Spar in Stonecross, Birmingham.
37. The first drive thru cash machine was opened at Barclays Hatton Cross in 1998 by Cheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz fame.
38. The ATM was immortalised by Hard-Fi in 2005 with the single cash machine.
39. Bank users are constantly being warned to look out for skimming devices. The gadgets are used by thieves to copy a customer’s card.
40. Cash machines are taking over completely in some regions of America. Customers have been told that their local branch is to be replaced by an unmanned centre filled with cash machines.
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